Translator: Aura / Editor: SaWarren

  Heinley made a series of small mistakes throughout the day.

  McKenna frowned every time he saw Heinley make a mistake in writing, spill the bottle of ink on the desk, and rewrote the documents completely. He also confused the names of his secretaries and wore his cloak backwards. When he ate, he did not use the cutlery properly as if he were absent minded.

  A smile constantly flashed across his face, which made McKenna feel rather uncomfortable.

  “You seem very happy, what happened?”
Finally McKenna couldn’t help but ask him directly, but Heinley shook his head,

  “It’s nothing.”
After the palace doctor left, and we calmed down a bit, Heinley intended to announce my pregnancy at once.

  He excitedly said that he would make this news known to my father, mother, brother, nobles, subordinates, the country, and even foreigners.

  But I told him not to do so.

  — Let’s take this opportunity to identify the troublesome people.

  — To the troublemakers… Ah. perhaps…
— Those who attack us now will not suddenly stand still just because our child will be born. We must identify and reduce the power of anyone who might pose a threat before our child is born.

  Heinley looked sad, but soon agreed with the long-term vision.

  As the rumor of infertility grew, the rest of Christa’s forces would emerge like a swarm of bees.

  By their actions, it could be determined if they could be saved, even if they were now on Christa’s side, or if they were completely useless.

  But a few days later, Heinley and I decided to tell McKenna about the pregnancy.

  It was unavoidable.

  The palace doctor urged me to sleep at least seven hours, eat at a specific time, and reduce my current work to a quarter.

  ‘It is the early stages of pregnancy that are most dangerous, Your Majesty. You must take special care right now. Eat, have fun, rest, watch and listen to good things, and don’t work until dawn!’
To comply with the palace doctor’s instructions, McKenna would have to take over much of my work, as he did before I married Heinley.

  McKenna jumped for joy at first to learn that I was pregnant, but was quickly depressed to hear that I would have to cut back on my workload.

  In this scenario, he couldn’t say no, so he finally replied, almost in tears, “That’s fine,” with a heavy voice.

  “I was already used to my previous work schedule, I know I only live to work. Your Majesty will be able to rest seven hours a day, although I will only be able to sleep for two hours.”
“I won’t leave you so much work, McKenna.”
“Even if Your Majesty doesn’t, the person next to you certainly will…”
McKenna’s face, which looked depressed, suddenly brightened and he asked,

  “Since it’s a secret, you can’t prepare the baby’s room all at once, but you can make the nest!”
“The nest?”
“I will make the nest, Your Majesty. Baby birds are small and delicate, so the nest must be made carefully. The trend these days are silk nests.”
Wait a minute. What nest?

  ***

  Sovieshu frowned at Viscountess Verdi’s words.

  Had she suddenly come to say that Rashta had thrown the princess to the floor?

  But he cared for the baby first. Sovieshu took the baby from Viscountess Verdi’s hands and examined her as she cried inconsolably.

  At first glance the princess didn’t appear to have suffered any injuries, but certainly something had happened to her.

  “Why does the baby cry like that? Daughter. Princess!”
Sovieshu cried out in despair as he tried to comfort the baby.

  “What happened? What happened to the baby?!”
“The Empress threw the princess, threw the princess to the floor!”
Viscountess Verdi spoke again through tears.

  The baby’s crying shook the whole room.

  “Call the palace doctor! No, I’ll go myself.”
Sovieshu then moved to leave with the baby in his arms in a hurry.

  “Don’t believe a word she says, Your Majesty!”
Rashta shouted in front of the drawing room door, who had come running with her guards to catch up with Viscountess Verdi.

  Due to the dramatic situation, the door to the drawing room was still open.

  Rashta entered the drawing room and exclaimed with a pale face.

  “Your Majesty, Viscountess Verdi is mad! It was that woman who threw the baby!”
Viscountess Verdi’s eyes widened enormously and she retorted, “Lie!”
Rashta continued as she glared at Viscountess Verdi,

  “After throwing the princess, she fled with the baby in her arms for fear of being punished by Rashta. Your Majesty, that evil woman tried to kill our daughter! ​She deserves to be executed for trying to kill the princess! She must be executed!”
Sovieshu looked between Viscountess Verdi and Rashta with a frown.

  “Your Majesty. Think about it. Would Rashta throw our daughter to the floor? That is absurd.”
Rashta spoke in a tearful voice and held out her hands toward the baby. Instead of giving over the baby, Sovieshu took a step back.

  Throwing a newborn baby to the floor was something a sane person would not do.

  So while it was true that Rashta had a crueler side than he thought, he wondered if she had really been able to throw her daughter.

  Also, he wondered if there was any reason for Viscountess Verdi to throw the baby on the floor.

  Just then, in the drawing room where only the baby’s crying could be heard, the sudden screech of a bird was heard.

  The sound came from the bedroom.

  At that moment, the palace doctor arrived. Sovieshu had tried to go personally, but was hindered by Rashta, so a subordinate of his had gone to fetch him.

  While the doctor was examining the baby, Sovieshu brought the bird in a cage into the living room.

  As soon as the bird saw Rashta, it let out an even louder high-pitched chirp, capable of shattering eardrums.

  The chirp wasn’t pretty or clear at all.

  Rashta took a startled step back.

  ‘It can’t be,’ the bird’s reaction finally convinced Sovieshu.

  Sovieshu glared at Rashta as he ordered her to leave.

  “Your Majesty, Viscountess Verdi…”
“Get out.”
“Your Majesty, Rashta…”
“I said get out.”
His cold voice drove Rashta back.

  But Rashta tried to remain firm when she saw that Viscountess Verdi was still kneeling in front of Sovieshu. This caused anger to erupt inside her.

  ‘The Viscountess betrayed Navier, so she had nowhere to go. Thanks to me, she got a place where she even received money. How did she dare?’
Rashta gritted her teeth, but there was nothing she could do now.

  Is that cunning bitch sobbing in front of Sovieshu as if she were the princess’s mother?

  “All right, I’ll leave. But Your Majesty, don’t forget that Rashta would never hurt the princess. That woman is a complete stranger, and Rashta is the princess’ mother.”
After speaking as calmly as possible, Rashta turned around and returned to the Western Palace.

  When Rashta left, Sovieshu closed the drawing room door and asked Viscountess Verdi,

  “You have a child, right?”
“Yes. Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Have you ever raised a baby?”
“Yes. We didn’t have the money to hire a nanny… so I cared for my child on my own.”
Viscountess Verdi responded in panic at the odd question.

  Sovieshu nodded. Then he said something completely unexpected.

  “I’ll prepare a room for the baby next to mine. Stay there with the princess and take care of her.”
In other words, he wanted her to become the princess’ nanny.

  Viscountess Verdi hastily bowed her head until her forehead touched the floor and repeatedly exclaimed through tears, “Thank you, Your Majesty!”
***